Investors Purchase Large Volume of Southwest Airlines Call Options (NYSE:LUV)

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors acquired 36,182 call options on the company. This is an increase of 83% compared to the average volume of 19,747 call options.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LUV. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 100.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 39,347 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,303,000 after buying an additional 19,729 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 5.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 61,060 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,050,000 after acquiring an additional 3,141 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 7.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,459 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 73.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,690 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 2,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 47.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 307,602 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $9,979,000 after acquiring an additional 98,986 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $42.00 to $37.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Argus lowered their target price on Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.21.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock traded up $1.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $45.50. The stock had a trading volume of 6,509,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,972,464. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $22.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines has a 52 week low of $28.98 and a 52 week high of $55.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.21.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The airline reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.45. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 10.66%. The company had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.46 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.13) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Southwest Airlines has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.350-0.650 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.45%.

Southwest Airlines Company Profile

Southwest Airlines Co is a U.S.-based low-cost carrier that operates a point-to-point domestic and near-international airline network. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company primarily flies Boeing 737 aircraft and offers no-frills, single-class service designed to keep fares competitive. Southwest’s operating model emphasizes high aircraft utilization, quick turnaround times and an open seating policy, allowing customers to board and select seats on a first-come, first-served basis.

Founded in 1967 by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King as Air Southwest Company, Southwest began commercial service in 1971, initially connecting Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.